Stamp Review Crew: Botanical Blooms Edition

Wow, July is gone already and it is time for another Stamp Review Crew hop! This time we are featuring a lovely flower and foliage set called Botanical Blooms. This set came out in the Occasions Mini this year with a coordinating die set that is gorgeous! I personally did not ink this set up until it was time for this hop, lol. There are so many lovely cards designed with it, I needed to NOT look at all of the inspiration on Pinterest and try to come up with something that was organically inspired :)

For those who are new to the Stamp Review Crew, here is a little background. We are an international group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators that gets together on the first and third Mondays of every month to do a blog hop. Each hop features a single stamp set to give you loads of inspiration for that set! The hops are archived at the Stamp Review Crew blog, and you will be able to click through each hop at any time, going directly to the posts for that hop whenever you want! And you can click on the banner of this post to go to the master blog roll for this hop also.  

If you are following along in order, then you just arrived from Holly Krautkremer's blog where she will fill you with amazement!

This card was inspired by a top I just bought. I love blue. Really. You should see how much blue I have in my wardrobe! And this print got me thinking about how I could recreate it with this set. I hope you will give this a try!

1. Cut a panel of Crumb Cake to 4"x5¼". 
2. Stamp the flowers in Blushing Bride and Flirty Flamingo. Stamp the leaves in Crumb cake, and the stamens and leaf veins in Soft Suede. Dry well with heat tool. 
3. Wipe the entire panel with an Embossing Buddy. Using Versamark, stamp over all of the images again, add a sprinkling of the confetti flowers in the gap. Sprinkle with Clear embossing powder and heat set. 
4. Use brayer, sponge brayer, or sponge to cover the panel in Dapper Denim ink. Then take a lightly damp cloth and rub the excess ink off the embossed areas.
5. Stamp the sentiment from the Watercolor Wishes kit stamp set in Versamark on a piece of Vellum, heat emboss with Copper embossing powder, then cut down and dovetail one end. Stitch to the panel. 
6. Adhere the finished panel to a Blushing Bride card base with dimensionals (or coasters if you have them :)  ).
7. Stamp the flower and leaves inside the card in the right lower corner. All done!

You can see the dimension here, and a little closer look at the flowers. Some of the Versamark stamping was not perfect, but it adds a little shadow and depth to the images, which I really love!

I stamped the big flower in Blushing Bride, then layered the smaller flower in Flirty Flamingo. and the stamen in Soft Suede. The leaves are Crumb Cake and Soft Suede. I added a few stamped off Blushing Bride flower confetti images to this also.

I am the last stop on this hop, but if you started somewhere in the middle, or you just want to go around again, head on over to Jessica William's blog! She is sure to knock you socks off!

If you have seen something you need for your crafting life, just click the image in the supply list below and it will take you to my store! If you order less than $150, please use this month's Host Code, which can be found at the top of the sidebar on the right.

And be sure to check the box allowing me to contact you when you check out. I can't send you a thank you card if I don't know your address! And I promise to only send you happy mail, no junk mail :)

Product List

Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set

[140757]

$17.00

Watercolor Wishes Card Kit

[140406]

$35.00

Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[131198]

$8.00

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[120953]

$8.00

Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[101856]

$8.00

Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad

[131172]

$6.50

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[141397]

$6.50

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

[126975]

$6.50

Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

[126978]

$6.50

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$8.50

Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad

[141394]

$6.50

Embossing Buddy

[103083]

$6.00

Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109130]

$5.00

Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder

[141636]

$5.00

Heat Tool

[129053]

$30.00

Sponge Brayers

[141714]

$8.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Christmas in July

This has been a very Merry month on my blog with LOTS of Christmas projects featured. Something about the thought that Christmas is just 5 short months away always makes me want to get busy creating all those projects I know that I am going to want to have ready. Plus Christmas just puts me in a good mood :)

This time I have a pair of cards using two different techniques to achieve a similar effect. 

This one is the more simple of the two. I used some retired Fancy Foil Vellum from last year's Holiday Mini. Yes, I was hoarding it. I am trying to overcome that tendency since it always looks better on a project than taking up space in my crafting area :)

• Cut a piece of Smoky Slate card stock to 4"x5¼". Cut a piece of the Fancy Foil Vellum to 3¾"x5". Apply a dab of adhesive behind where the banner will go and tack to the Smoky Slate, then stitch down with sewing machine.
• Die cut the "jolly" from Christmas Greetings thinlits set out of Silver Glimmer paper. Die cut the double banner from Bunch of Banners framelits. 
• Use the Embossing Buddy on the double banner. Lay the "jolly" over the double banner to find placement for the "Holly" and "Christmas" stamps, then stamp in Versamark. Heat emboss with Silver embossing powder. 
• Use Fine-tip Glue Pen to adhere the "jolly" to the double banner. Apply dimensionals to the back of the double banner and remove the backing from the dimensionals.
• Create a nest of Silver thread by wrapping the thread around 3-4 of your fingers several times, then place over the exposed dimensionals on the back of the banner element. Adhere this to the stitched vellum panel. 
• Adhere the completed panel to a Thick Whisper White card base. 
• For the inside of the card, I inked up the big snowflake from Holly Jolly Greetings with Smoky Slate ink, then stamped it a few times without reinking between impressions, then added some of the speckles image. All done!

 This simple card packs a lot of jolly without a lot of effort!

This one required more effort, but actually met the requirements of the July 2016 Creative Crew Challenge I made it for! I have not ordered the Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate yet, so I had to improvise. Now if I had the Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate, this would have been a very fast and easy card, just like the vellum one :) For this one, I did all the same steps, but first I had to get the silver foil look on my Acetate! So, I took dies from the Flourish and Delicate Ornaments framelit sets and die cut a bunch of "snowflakes" out of Silver Foil card stock. Then I used the Fine-Tip Glue Pen to adhere them to a 4"x5¼" piece of Window Sheet.

And I learned that alcohol wipes will neatly remove any extra Fine-Tip Glue Pen adhesive from the acetate, yeah!! And that the Fine-Tip Glue pen does an excellent job of adhering stuff to acetate :)

So which of these do you like better? And do you have the Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate? If so, then you may have just found one more way to use it :)

If you have seen something you need for your crafting life, just click the image in the supply list below and it will take you to my store! If you order less than $150, please use this month's Host Code, which can be found at the top of the sidebar on the right.

And be sure to check the box allowing me to contact you when you check out. I can't send you a thank you card if I don't know your address! And I promise to only send you happy mail, no junk mail :)

Product List

Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139882]

$20.00

Holly Jolly Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[139879]

$28.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

$7.00

Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[131202]

$8.00

Holidays Fancy Foil Designer Vellum

[139597]

$11.00

Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate

[141653]

$12.00

Silver Glimmer Paper

[135314]

$5.00

Window Sheets

[142314]

$5.00

Silver Foil Sheets

[132178]

$4.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$8.50

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

$6.50

Embossing Buddy

[103083]

$6.00

Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109131]

$5.00

Heat Tool

[129053]

$30.00

Big Shot

[143263]

$110.00

Big Shot Die Brush

[140603]

$11.00

Precision Base Plate

[139684]

$25.00

Flourish Thinlits Dies

[141478]

$29.00

Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies

[139667]

$29.00

Bunch Of Banners Framelits Dies

[141488]

$27.00

Fine-Tip Glue Pen

[138309]

$7.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Stamp Review Crew Bonus Hop: Thoughtful Branches Edition

The Stamp Review Crew has a special Bonus Hop for you today. We could not resist sharing our love for the Thoughtful Branches bundle!
When I saw the limited time bundle that Stampin' Up! is offering for the month of August, I knew I had to have it. It is so very versatile, and who can resist those sentiments?! Oh, wait, you maybe haven't seen it yet ;)  Trust me, you are going to love it!

For those who are new to the Stamp Review Crew, here is a little background. We are an international group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators that gets together on the first and third Mondays of every month to do a blog hop. Each hop features a single stamp set to give you loads of inspiration for that set! The hops are archived at the Stamp Review Crew blog, and you will be able to click through each hop at any time, going directly to the posts for that hop whenever you want! And you can click on the banner of this post to go to the master blog roll for this hop also.  

If you are following along in order, then you just arrived from Sue Plote's blog where she will fill you with amazement!

Here is the first and only card I have made with this set so far. I got it the day before I had to work and have not had time to fully relish it's beauty! This is a sympathy card, and I kind of like it. I think I like it more each time I look at it :)

1. Prepare a 4¼"x5½" Thick Whisper White card base, scoring in half. 
2. Cut a Whisper White panel to 4" wide by 3¼" tall, then stamp leaves in Garden Green repeatedly, sometimes not reinking between impressions. Stamp the tree trunks in Early Espresso to the darkest trees only. 
3. Cut a Sahara Sand panel to 4"x5¼". Stamp the greeting once full strength, then fill in with stamped-off repetitions of the greeting. 
4. Use one of the largest Ovals from the Ovals framelits or the Layering Ovals framelits, put just the lower part of the tree panel under the die on your Big Shot platform, and place the top cutting plate just over the part you want to die cut. Then run through the die-cutting machine. Cut a piece of Vellum to be 4" wide and at least 1½" tall and repeat. 
5. Adhere the vellum to the back of the tree panel, then stitch all the way around the tree panel.
   Apply dimensionals to the back and adhere to the top of the Sahara Sand panel. 
6. Die cut 2 of the leafy branches from Garden Green using the Precision base plate (this makes life sooo much easier!). Trim off 3 leaves with a bit of stem. Curl them just a bit with your bone folder. Stick to the exposed dimensionals behind the tree panel.
7. Adhere completed panel to the card base.
8. Stamp the second part of the sentiment inside the card in Early Espresso, and add a cluster of trees in the lower right corner. All done!

Here is a side view to get an idea of the dimension on the card.

And the inside.

I hope you like it!

Now it is time to go see what wonderment Bruno Bertucci has created for us!

If you have seen something you need for your crafting life, just click the image in the supply list below and it will take you to my store! If you order less than $150, please use this month's Host Code, which can be found at the top of the sidebar on the right.

And be sure to check the box allowing me to contact you when you check out. I can't send you a thank you card if I don't know your address! And I promise to only send you happy mail, no junk mail :)


Product List

Thoughtful Branches Photopolymer Stamp Set

[143539]

$27.00

Beautiful Branches Thinlits Dies

[143538]

$31.00

Thoughtful Branches Photopolymer Bundle

[144328]

$52.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

$7.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

$9.00

Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[121043]

$8.00

Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[101856]

$8.00

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[102584]

$8.00

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

[126973]

$6.50

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[126974]

$6.50

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad

[126976]

$6.50

Big Shot

[143263]

$110.00

Precision Base Plate

[139684]

$25.00

Layering Ovals Framelits Dies

[141706]

$35.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00